Ontario Land Tribunal

Tribunal ontarien de l’aménagement du territoire

ISSUE DATE: February 27, 2023

CASE NO(S).: OLT-22-002137

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 22(7) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.

Applicant/Appellant: Oulahen Team Realty Inc. Subject: Request to amend the Official Plan – Failure of the City of Toronto to adopt the requested amendment Description: To permit the construction of three residential towers Reference Number: 21 193212 NNY 18 OZ Property Address: 48, 50, 56, 58 and 60 Avondale Avenue Municipality/UT: Toronto/Toronto OLT Case No: OLT-22-002137 OLT Lead Case No: OLT-22-002137 OLT Case Name: Oulahen Team Realty Inc. v. Toronto (City)

PROCEEDING COMMENCED UNDER subsection 34(11) of the Planning Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. P. 13, as amended.

Applicant/Appellant: Oulahen Team Realty Inc. Subject: Application to amend the Zoning By-law – Refusal or neglect of the City of Toronto to make a decision Description: To permit the construction of three residential towers Reference Number: 21 193212 NNY 18 OZ Property Address: 48, 50, 56, 58 and 60 Avondale Avenue Municipality/UT: Toronto/Toronto OLT Case No: OLT-22-002138 OLT Lead Case No: OLT-22-002137

Heard: February 22, 2023 by Video Hearing

APPEARANCES:

Parties Counsel*/Representative

Oulahen Team Realty Inc. ("Applicant"/ "Appellant") D. Bronskill* C. Barnett* E. Barz*

City of Toronto ("City") S. O’Connor* C. Dougherty*

William Wang Self-represented

Malcolm Eylott Self-represented (in absentia)

Haochuan Wu Self-represented

MEMORANDUM OF ORAL DECISION DELIVERED T.F. NG AND STEVEN T. MASTORAS ON FEBRUARY 22, 2023 AND ORDER OF THE TRIBUNAL

Introduction

1This is the second Case Management Conference ("CMC") for the Applicant's appeals of the non-decisions of the City of Toronto ("City") with respect to applications for Official Plan Amendment ("OPA") and Zoning By-law Amendment ("ZBA") pursuant to s. 22(7) and s. 34(11) of the Planning Act. The applications were to permit the construction of three residential towers of 26, 37 and 40 storeys in height at properties municipally known as 48, 50, 56, 58 and 60 Avondale Avenue ("subject site").

2At this CMC, a participant request by Dan Fox and an upgrade to party status by Haochuan Wu were considered. Further, the Applicant had filed a Notice of Motion for determination as to whether Goodmans LLP is in conflict of interest in its representation of the Applicant.

3Since this was a CMC, the Tribunal dealt with case management matters first before the Motion.

Participant/Party status

4Mr. Fox, a neighbouring property owner, who submitted a formal participant status request was granted Participant status by the Tribunal without objections from Parties present at the CMC. Mr. Fox will be able to amend his statement.

5Mr. Wu explained that, at the first CMC, he was under the mistaken impression that he needed to be represented by counsel to obtain party status, hence, he requested participant status then. He has resubmitted a formal request to be a party as he contends that he will make himself available for all dates of the hearing and will appoint an expert for the hearing. David Bronskill, while not objecting to status, did caution that there are concerns with the efficacies of the proceedings. City counsel Sarah O'Connor, while not objecting to the request, did express similar concerns.

6The Tribunal briefly explained Rule 8.1 of Tribunal's Rules of Practice and Procedure on the rights and obligations of a Party to Mr. Wu, who confirmed that he wished to upgrade his status and present his case. Mr. Wu was granted Party status in the proceedings. The Tribunal directed him to submit his issues list to the Applicant's counsel within one week i.e. by March 1, 2023.

7William Wang maintained that he was granted status as director of the Toronto Standard Condominium Corporation 1782 ("TSCC") and TSCC is a Party.

8The Tribunal directed him to the decision at the first CMC where Mr. Wang was granted Party status, in his personal capacity. TSCC was to submit its formal party status request before this CMC if status was desired. No formal application was submitted and the request could not be considered. The Tribunal directed that TSCC is to submit a formal party status request and a resolution to authorize Mr. Wang as representative before the next CMC. TSCC could then assume the Party status of Mr. Wang.

Procedural Order/Issues List

9The Procedural Order ("PO") and the Issues List will need revision with Mr. Wu's party inclusion. The procedural deadlines will need to be adjusted by consent of the Parties. The Tribunal directed that the revised PO and Issues List be forwarded to the Case Coordinator by March 8, 2023 by the Applicant.

Notice of Motion

10As noted above, the Applicant has filed a Notice of Motion returnable on the CMC date to determine the matter of its continued representation by Goodmans LLP.

11Counsels, Chris Barnett and Evan Barz, were retained by the Applicant specifically for the motion. Mr. Barnett informed the Tribunal that he received emails on the morning of the CMC, that Malcolm Eylott (the Respondent to the motion) expressed his inability to attend the Video hearing as he was then in Utah, U.S.A. where a huge snowstorm had snowed him in a hotel that did not have the video conferencing capability to enable his participation. Mr. Eylott, in his email correspondence, stated he could not get to another place where such facilities were available either.

12The Tribunal stood down the matter for fifteen minutes to enable Mr. Barnett to confer with his client and continue the email correspondence with Mr. Eylott to consider whether the motion matter should be adjourned.

13Counsel was cognizant that Mr. Eylott was a self-represented lay person and that the snowstorm is a natural unforeseen occurrence.

14Counsel debated whether the motion ought to be postponed in fairness to the lay party. The Tribunal recognized that Mr. Eylott is the respondent in the motion and that he did contact counsel and the Case Coordinator on the snowstorm and his dilemma.

15The Tribunal directed that a third CMC be scheduled for hearing the Motion and for consideration of TSCC's Party status request. The CMC is scheduled on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

16Notice of Motion will be heard on that date and no further submissions or adjournments will be entertained.

17The nine (9)-day hearing dates of the appeals from Tuesday, August 8, 2023, remain as scheduled.

18The next CMC will be held on Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 10 a.m. by video. No further Notice will be given.

19Parties and Participants are asked to log into the video hearing at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to test their video and audio connections.

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/909787981

Access code: 909-787-981

20Parties and Participants are asked to access and set up the application well in advance of the event to avoid unnecessary delay. The desktop application can be downloaded at GoToMeeting or a web application is available: https://app.gotomeeting.com/home.html

21Persons who experience technical difficulties accessing the GoToMeeting application or who only wish to listen to the event can connect to the event by calling into an audio-only telephone line: (Toll Free) 1-888-455-1389 or +1 (647) 497-9391. The access code is as indicated above.

22Individuals are directed to connect to the event on the assigned date at the correct time. It is the responsibility of the persons participating in the hearing by video to ensure that they are properly connected to the event at the correct time. Questions prior to the hearing event may be directed to the Tribunal's Case Coordinator having carriage of this case.

ORDER

23The Tribunal Orders that:

a. Dan Fox is granted Participant status.

b. Haochuan Wu is granted Party status.

c. The CMC is fixed on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

d. The Applicant’s Motion will be heard at the next CMC.

e. The Applicant is to forward the revised Procedural Order and Issues List to the Case Coordinator by Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

f. The Procedural Order is to govern the proceedings.

24This Panel is seized for the motion hearing.

25The Tribunal so orders.

“T.F. Ng”

T.F. Ng

MEMBER

“Steven T. Mastoras”

STEVEN T. MASTORAS

MEMBER

Ontario Land Tribunal

Website: olt.gov.on.ca Telephone: 416-212-6349 Toll Free: 1-866-448-2248

The Conservation Review Board, the Environmental Review Tribunal, the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and the Mining and Lands Tribunal are amalgamated and continued as the Ontario Land Tribunal (“Tribunal”). Any reference to the preceding tribunals or the former Ontario Municipal Board is deemed to be a reference to the Tribunal.